Had We Learned In Time
by TigressMoon
Summary: Two opponents meet on a familiar battlefield the long time battle between them finally reaching its boiling point. Will they choose to weather the storm of their emotions or learn to late of what they could have had.


Yes we know I do not own Inuyasha or any of its affliated characters.

A/N This is another original work of mine that I have altered to fit the Inuyasha setting. I have kept the basic plot and characters just tweaked them a little to suit my purposes. Hopefully it shall be enough. This is the first of the "Stay with Me" series where Kagome and Sesshoumaru will be reincarnated in situtations that will make it impossible for them to be with each other. I won't get into to much detail now becuase you will understand in time. Also...

While I don't believe I will need to put this disclaimer I'll do it anyway.

While I do not own Inuyasha...

I do own this particular story line and will recognize it and my poetry.

If anyone is foolish enough to attempt to steal it I will personally hunt you down and skin you alive without bothering to use a knife.

Any questions...I didn't think so.

So without further adieu...

Had We Learned in Time

Two opponents met on a familiar battlefield; the long time battle between them finally reaching its boiling point. For years they used varying degrees of love and hate, two sides of the same blade, to cut each other down. But on this day the blade finally cut two deep and thus the scene unfolds.

A woman sat reclining on a couch before a fire she could not feel. Her long graceful hands were clasped under the pages of the forgotten book she had been reading. Her fingers were searching absently for a girth that was no longer there.

She was what they called an ethereal beauty, and in many ways she was the living embodiment of the moon. Long pale lashes rested on equally pale skin that no amount of sun would ever change. Her silky mass of hair so black it appeared like midnight in the growing darkness, cascaded down her back in tumbling waves. Her oval face with its delicately formed features seemed, for once, to be at peace.

A peace that was shattered the moment the door to the chamber opened. Light silvery blue eyes fluttered open to meet with that of her keeper. And if she was the moon, quietly beautiful in her radiance; then he was the sun, brazenly striking in his glory.

Sharp golden eyes locked with hers before clouding a shade. He had a princely glow against the soft touch of the fire's light; whose shine gave his alabaster skin striking detailing. He glided into the room, his mane of silvery white hair framing his aristocratic features along with the twin magenta stripes along his cheek.

He had a body that would do the warrior's of old proud. But then again what was he save a warrior, and one who had set out to conquer her. He stopped mere feet from her and met her all to calmly knowing gaze. She knew she was expected to stand but she also knew that he would have looked down at her regardless.

"Kagome." He began by first acknowledging her presence.

"Sesshoumaru." She replied in kind.

Greetings given, Sesshoumaru then began to pace about the room.

"You know why I am here." He said, his voice to calm to make it a question.

"You come to try and take the memory of my son from me." Her words were sharp and cool but her soft placid tone never changed.

"Kagome I…"

She silenced him with one chilling look as she rose and began to pace counterclockwise to him. "Do not think to placate me oh Lord of the Western Lands." She warned, when they were directly parallel from the other she continued. "You _dare_ think to name _my _son."

From his place across the room he rounded on her, the force of his growing rage bellowing off of him in thick waves of heat.

"As his father I have that right."

"You seek to tell me of rights when you stole my own to force him on me?" She asked disbelievingly.

The molten fury of Sesshoumaru's eyes met with the chilling rage of Kagome's. The air between them rippled with tension as the two opposing forces grappled for control over the other. "Be that as it may…" He replied stiffly. "He was my son."

_And I will do with his memory as I see fit._ The words were never said but they hung heavy and oppressive between them.

"And because of you he is dead." She hissed with all the venom of a hellcat.

But towards the end her voice had near broken with sorrow as the memory flooded through her mind. She had been fleeing down a flight of stairs from Sesshoumaru after another one of their arguments. He had startled her with such a hateful accusation; that it'd thrown her off balance and she fell to the bottom on her all to vulnerable stomach.

The moment the shooting pain of impact had jolted through her body, she knew her child was lost. And within her a day her son was gone. Even though in her mind she knew they were equally to blame, her heart would not believe and continued to blame Sesshoumaru solely. So absorbed in her own thoughts was she that she heard not a word of his ranting.

It was not until his last words sliced through her subconscious that she realized she had even taken herself to the place where his wrath couldn't reach her. When she blinked she found him right before her ending his speech with…

"…His name will be Makoto." The affirmative tone made her realize that he thought her silence was submission. He could not have been more wrong for this issue was far from over. He had not taken but two steps from her side when she retorted.

"My son will be named Omari meaning High Born." She declared proudly, meeting his anger with unflinching eyes like blue tinted ice. "Something you will _never_ be."

Her words were sharp and stinging, rivaled only by Sesshoumaru's quick turn to land a harsh slap to her face. It sent her sprawling into the desk in the corner. Her body and momentum knocked various books and ornaments from their homes. Shock written over her features, Kagome gazed up at Sesshoumaru from her slumped position. One hand was hovering over the quickly reddening patch of skin.

"And what would you know about birthrights _slave_." Sesshoumaru spat, his voice dripping with venom but Kagome said nothing in reply. "Do not forget you belong to me Kagome, you will always be mine." Anger clouded the moonlight pools of Kagome's eyes but still she said nothing, simply maintaining his contempt with silence.

"Now get out."

She was up and gone within seconds, leaving a lingering chill in her wake. When the door closed behind her, like a puppet whose strings had been clipped Sesshoumaru's body sagged. He ran tired fingers through is mane-like silver hair.

Glancing down at the mess they had made, he could not help but think it the physical manifestation off all that lay between them. It saddened him that no peace could be made between them, and heaven knows they had tried. He bent down to pick up the wreckage, his thoughts far from what lay before him.

A sharp sting reminded him, he glanced down at his bleeding thumb wondering what had done the damage. The shattered remains of a porcelain dove were the culprits. He sighed as even in this made him think of Kagome. Had he shattered her as well?

He had never intended to drive so deep a wedge between them. But neither of them could ever yield and they would never stop fighting. Because of that, he knew the battle would eventually break one of them. That thought caused him more pain that he would ever admit to since in truth he truly did love Kagome, as he knew so did she. He came to that conclusion just as he was picking up a stray book and glanced down at the page. Blank save for one or two lines it read.

"**_You will always hurt the one you love,_**

**_But the true test of that love is if you can let them go."_**

((A week later...))

The day she never thought would come had snuck upon her and met her unaware.

The day of her freedom had arrived and now she knew not what to do. Sesshoumaru had shocked all with his sudden confession that he no longer wanted her by his side. Whether it was the verse he had found in her room or just the build up of so many years of tension that he had given up, was all left to speculation.

However, what she did know was that the strain of their tug of war had finally snapped. It had flung her into unfamiliar territory leaving her dazed and uncertain. A week had passed since his announcement and Kagome had seen little of him. She believed him to be avoiding her, to save himself she supposed. But of what she could not fathom.

Annoyance, the shadow of her presence? She dared not think it to be remorse or grief, that she knew, was far too much to hope for. And yet..._she did_. Now the hour of her release was drawing closer and she found herself torn between feelings of bittersweet hope and subdued regret. She did now want to leave this place that had become her reluctant home for so many years.

And yet she knew she could not remain with Sesshoumaru, she had come to the painful realization that if they did they would tear each other to shreds. She sighed while gazing out of her window, waiting. But for what she did not know. And as if on cue there was a knock on her door. She did not spare it a glance and called for whomever to enter. She had expected a servant to come take her luggage down but this was not so.

Blinking her eyes in surprise she found herself face to face with Sesshoumaru. His eyes when they locked with hers were calmly flat, as if there was something in them he wanted to restrain. The quiet intensity there showed her there was so much he wanted to say but dared not to. She turned to face him, waiting for him to speak; which he did so moments later.

"The carriage has arrived." He declared.

Kagome rose and dipped into a low graceful curtsy, knowing in the back of her mind that this would be the last time. When she straightened she asked.

"Come to see me off?"

But for some strange reason she could not keep her voice as calm as she wanted. She wanted him to tell her to stay, a part of her no matter now insane, wanted to hear those words. But such a thing could not and would not happen. Sesshoumaru shifted uncomfortably and seemed ready to say something from the same wistful look he gave her.

That one glance made her realize that if he said it she would lose all of her resolve. Grasping his hand gently she placed an envelope in his palm.

"Good bye Sesshoumaru...read this when I am gone." She whispered and started to walk past him.

But a sudden grip at her wrist stopped her; she turned to look up at Sesshoumaru, surprise written once again on her features.

"Kagome…"

She cut him off again, swallowing the knot in her throat. One of them had to be strong, one of them had to let go.

"Don't pretend you'll miss me Sesshoumaru." She said with a forced smile, she could feel her voice breaking with the effort of staying calm. "That would be cruel."

His eyes met hers and he saw the rising tide of tears but ignored them for both their sakes. He watched her for a very long time until some measure of understanding passed between them and he nodded.

For a moment she thought he would not release her, but then he did, so suddenly that it almost made her stagger. He took a step back and replied in a tone equal to hers. "Good bye Kagome."

And as the call for the carriage came he released her hand, letting her slip from his grasp. Kagome turned, slipped out of the door and out of his life.

Sesshoumaru listened to the receding sound of horse hooves and tried in vain to think around his sorrow. He tried not to be aware of the growing feeling of loss within him, but found he could not.

_She's gone._ He cried; his mind's voice filled with anguish.

"She is gone." His voice sounded chocked, as if grief had strangled them out of him.

He knew he had done the right thing in letting her go. Someone had to be strong and save them both. Even though in the end he did not know if it had been him or Kagome. But the deed was done and there was no turning back now.

Clutching the envelope she had given him he sat down and began to read. Within seconds, he felt his eyes watering with tears at her words. Words that he had wanted to say but could not, in the end her words had been his as well. And he realized in that moment just how much it had cost them both to walk away. Trying to regain some semblance of control he began to read her words one last time.

Had we learned in time it may not have come to this,

We could have learned to live together and share eternal bliss.

Had we loved in time, we may not have turned to hate,

Our lives would have been different and we'd have shared a different fate.

Our hearts would have joined and joy found at last,

But you and I could not forget the sins of our past.

I wish I could have let you love me, and I you in return,

Maybe passion instead of hate would have caused our hearts to burn.

So now we stand at a crossroard, together and yet apart,

A choice will be made and I'll wager both our hearts.

Now do you understand the choice that I will make,

Knowing now it will cause our hearts to break.

Then your eyes locked with mine and you _looked _at me,

It was as if for once it was _me _that you see.

Your eyes said that you wished it were not son,

But it is time for you to let me go.

Now I leave with thoughts of a would be love sublime ,

A love we could have had...had we learned to love in time.

**Fin. **

Author's Note:

It will be years before Kagome and Sesshoumaru will see each other again.

Reincarnated in new bodies but of the same spirit.

They will now have a second chance at their love.

But will they be able to grasp it?

Or will the sins of the past resurface to pull them apart once again.


End file.
